Related papers: Predicting plasticity with soft vibrational modes:…
A simple model to predict the directionality of vibrational energy flow at molecular level is presented. This model is based on a vibrational energy propagation analysis using ab intio molecular dynamics and the Fukui function and local…
We test methods for the determination of unstable modes in stellar discs: a point collocation scheme in the action sub-space, a scheme based on expansion of the density and potential on the biorthonormal basis, and a finite element method.…
Soft materials, such as liquids, polymers, foams, gels, colloids, granular materials, and most soft biological materials, play an important role in our daily lives. From a mechanical viewpoint, soft materials can easily achieve large…
We study the vibrational spectra of one-dimensional statically compressed granular crystals (arrays of elastic particles in contact) containing defects. We focus on the prototypical settings of one or two spherical defects (particles of…
The diatomic linear chain of masses coupled by harmonic springs is a textboook model for vibrational normal modes (phonons) in crystals. In addition to propagating acoustic and optic branches, this model is known to support a ``gap mode''…
When particles move at a constant speed and have the tendency to align their directions of motion, ordered large scale movement can emerge despite significant levels of noise. Many variants of this model of self-propelled particles have…
We employ numerical simulations to understand the evolution of elastic standing waves in disordered frictional disk systems, where the dispersion relations of rotational sound modes are analyzed in detail. As in the case of frictional…
Anderson localization of classical waves in disordered media is a fundamental physical phenomenon that has attracted attention in the past three decades. More recently, localization of polar excitations in nanostructured metal-dielectric…
From pressure and surface dilation measurements, we show that a solid-liquid-type transition occurs at low excitation frequencies in vertically vibrated granular layers. This transition precedes subharmonic bifurcations from flat surface to…
We study the local disorder in the deformation of amorphous materials by decomposing the particle displacements into a continuous, inhomogeneous field and the corresponding fluctuations. We compare these fields to the commonly used…
We identify a fundamental morphological instability of mobile dislocations in crystals and related line defects. A positive gradient in the local driving force along the direction of defect motion destabilizes long-wavelength vibrational…
Vibrational spectra and normal modes of mechanically stable particle packings in three dimensions are analyzed over a range of compressions, from near the jamming transition, where the packings lose their rigidity, to far above it. At high…
Topological states can be used to control the mechanical properties of a material along an edge or around a localized defect. The surface rigidity of elastic networks is characterized by a bulk topological invariant called the polarization;…
Unlike molecular crystals, soft self-assembled fibres, micelles, vesicles, etc., exhibit a certain order in the arrangement of their constitutive monomers, but also high structural dynamicity and variability. Defects and disordered local…
Periodic driving of particles can create crystalline structures in their dynamics. Such systems can be used to study solid-state physics phenomena in the time domain. In addition, it is possible to realize photonic time crystals and to…
The choice of vibrational coordinates is crucial for the accuracy, efficiency, and interpretability of molecular vibrational dynamics and spectra calculations. We explore the recently proposed normalizing-flow vibrational coordinates, which…
Understanding the ability of particles to maneuver through disordered environments is a central problem in innumerable settings, from active matter and biology to electronics. Macroscopic particles ultimately exhibit diffusive motion when…
We study an experimental system of hard granular squares in two dimensions, energized by vibration. The interplay of order in the orientations and positions of anisotropic particles allows for a rich set of phases. We measure the structure…
We propose an approach to measure surface elastic constants of soft solids. Generally, this requires one to probe interfacial mechanics at around the elastocapillary length scale, which is typically microscopic. Deformations of microscopic…
Using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that a simple model of a glassy material exhibits the shear localization phenomenon observed in many complex fluids. At low shear rates, the system separates into a fluidized shear-band and an…